More thoughts on yesterday's trades

Sometimes it works precisely as intended.

The Orioles signed veteran left-hander Tommy Milone to a minor league deal in spring training, one of their typical late moves under the Florida sunshine. Never make roster projections until after everyone reports to camp.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias had the same vision as his predecessors. Bring in a pitcher or player on a shortened and inexpensive deal and hope for the type of production that benefits the club on the field and later at the trade deadline.

Flip him for a prospect or two. The contenders will come sniffing around in the summer, perhaps overpaying in the process.

Elias is receiving two players to be named later for Milone, who's joining his eighth team and is capped as a back of the rotation starter or swingman. Sounds like a win for the Orioles even without knowing the identities.

(Milone started last night for the Braves and allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings.)

As he's done in previous trades of Hector Velázquez and Richard Bleier, Elias has gained the freedom to choose players from outside the Braves' 60-man pool. And you can figure that there's already an agreement on the names.

The teams just wait until after the season to make it official beyond PTBNL status.

Elias didn't have the same luck with Wade LeBlanc, who is done for the season after suffering a stress reaction in his left elbow. The Orioles' reaction was one of disappointment.

Teams don't have much interest in trading for a pitcher on the 60-day injured list. And LeBlanc will head back to the free agent market if he's able to resume his career, which the Orioles believe can happen.

You hate when bad things happen to good people, and LeBlanc is one of them.

Other deals by Elias prior to today's deadline also could involve a PTBNL if he's really intent on avoiding a dip in the pool. And again, this is a way to strengthen the lower levels of the farm system, though the Orioles were able to pry Triple-A reliever Isaac Mattson from the Angels in the Dylan Bundy trade and they got Double-A corner infielder Tyler Nevin from the Rockies as part of the return for reliever Mychal Givens.

The loss of the 2020 minor league season stalled players at their 2019 levels.

I thought we might see Mattson in the majors this month, but perhaps his debut comes in September. The Orioles have been yo-yoing a few relievers who already are on the 40-man roster.

Givens had the most value among the Orioles chips based on the demand on relievers, his affordability and control through the 2021 season and how he's allowed two runs with 19 strikeouts in 13 innings.

A setup man with some closing experience. And he can field his position because, you know, he used to be a shortstop.

The Orioles were motivated to move Givens but didn't intend to give him away. There was an entire offseason to shop him if the right offer didn't come along. But they wanted to avoid going through arbitration with him.

An expanded playoff field made this an ideal time to let contenders fight over him. And Hunter Harvey's return to the bullpen provided a nice replacement for the Orioles, though he won't be available as often with the club vowing to be careful following his latest stint on the injured list.

Elias was able to get two intriguing and highly ranked prospects for Givens, with Terrin Vavra giving him another middle infielder for the system, as well as a PTBNL. He had to be thrilled. Givens wasn't going to stay through the rebuild. It's already a good trade.

The Orioles have 58 players in their 60-man pool, including Nevin and Vavra.

Nevin in the organization is a delicious spin around the baseball universe.

His father, Phil, refused a trade to the Orioles at the 2005 deadline. Phil was playing for the Padres, having a house built in San Diego with his wife and three children and able to exercise a limited no-trade clause that included the Orioles and seven other teams..

He had a 72-hour window to make a decision and killed a deal that would have sent pitcher Sidney Ponson to the Padres. The clubs informed the commissioner's office of the agreement and waited for Nevin to consent to it. He did not.

"I've said from the first moment that I am surprised that this has gone that far without Phil rejecting the trade," agent Barry Axelrod told The Baltimore Sun just before relaying Nevin's decision to the Padres. "It has nothing to do with Baltimore or the Orioles. It has everything to do with what had been the ideal situation with Phil living in San Diego, playing in front of his family and friends."

Manager Lee Mazzilli found out about the trade falling through after a loss to the Rangers.

"We have to do what we have to do," Mazzilli said, never one to fill up a notebook with flashy quotes. "I just heard of it. Right now, we have other things we need to concern ourselves with."

Oh boy, did he have other things.

Ponson was set to earn $10 million the following season, the last of his three-year, $22.5 million deal. The Orioles released him in September, fed up with his off-the-field conduct, and he signed with the Cardinals three months later.